The FYF Fest Will Be Back In 2018 With A New Booking Team

In case you were wondering about the fate of the FYF fest, we now know that the festival is very probably happening this year again. After a series of sexual harassment accusations against his founder last November, Goldenvoice seemed to have cut its ties with the festival and the future of the music fest seemed severely compromised. Building a reputation for a festival takes several years, and the FYF fest did it relatively fast, from its Fuck Yeah Fest humble debut in 2004 to the large beast it became the last few years, proudly occupying Exposition Park and booking remarkable artists such as Interpol, Kanye West, Morrissey, The Strokes, Kendrick Lamar, Grace Jones, Frank Ocean, LCD Soundsystem,… After partnering with Goldenvoice, FYF fest became a brand, its disappearance would be a shame and a terrible loss for the LA music scene, and promoters would probably never let such a valuable brand slip between their fingers.

When I saw the poster above with its incredible list of bands, I was stunned by the fantastic line-up! Although it’s very probably a fake one, things like these leaking on social media keep the idea of the festival alive and now several sources have confirmed that the FYF fest will survive without its founder, so be reassured that there will be a 2018 FYF fest.

For a while, it was hard to find any new information, there were still a few ‘FYF Presents’ concerts but they were getting very rare and no social medias were promoting them lately. However, mid-February, a new company emerged, with a Facebook page This Is Us Now and a website This Is Who We Are Now, taking over the FYF Presents booking and announcing new events, several of them presented in collaboration with Goldenvoice, as Coachella off-dates at desert concert gateway Pappy & Harriet’s.

According to LA Mag, the new company consists of Emily Twombly (who also worked at Origami Vinyl in Echo Park), Dave Peterson, and Dave Pianka, but will also include Jennifer Yacoubian, who has been booking the Shrine Auditorium for Goldenvoice in Los Angeles since 2009, and Stacy Vee, who has been booking for many Goldenvoice/AEG festivals including Stagecoach, Arroyo Seco, Hangout Fest in Alabama, and Panorama in New York, since 2015.

This means 3 women and 2 men will now be in charge, thus a very good female representation in a male-dominated industry, and an interesting move after many women have accused founder Sean Carlson of sexual misconduct.

As for the financial aspect of the story, AEG has bought out Sean Carlson’s 50% stake in the event, as it was reported by Billboard earlier last month. The exact dates (probably still in July) and the full line-up should be announced soon, but right now we could keep an eye on this page to see who is in the radar of This Is Us Now!